Something You Didn't Know
by fandomfatale
Summary: Barney and Robin get back together at the hospital after Lily has the baby. Mostly fluff.


Summary: Barney and Robin get back together at the hospital after Lily has had the baby.

Disclaimer: These characters, etc. do not belong to me. I make no profit.

Author's Notes: This is sort of a vision of 7.24 what could happen and how wonderful it would be. Just something fluffy to pass time during the hiatus, incorporating some of my headcanons.

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As Robin sat there, Barney's arm around her while she rested her head on his shoulder, she wondered how it was possible to be this happy. The million other things she thought would fulfill her – her father's pride and love, success in her career, independence, and, more recently, the security of a relationship with a stable, dependable man – all seemed secondary. _This_ was what mattered. Her and Barney.

It was chilly and late – the vacant patio off the obstetrics floor of the hospital had been the perfect place to have a private moment while Lily recuperated from the birth and Marshall and Ted trolled for food. When she and Barney had stepped out for some air, neither one had known what was going to happen. Except for the small part of their heart that had known _exactly_ what was going to happen.

There was a reason they didn't spend a lot of time alone together. Things happened…

"I was sorry to hear about you and Quinn. I didn't get a chance to tell you earlier." Robin had said, looking out at the city while she spoke to try and reduce the awkwardness, then turning back to him to finish.

He had stared at her for a moment, and then, shaking his head, laughed sadly: "Quinn who?" Embarrassment swept over him suddenly, and he shifted his gaze towards the view.

Robin's lips had parted in surprise. "What are you saying?"

He didn't speak at first, didn't look at her. Then he sighed. "I tried to make it work with someone else, Robin. It was no use." He leaned onto the railing. The cold air felt good.

She gaped at him as he steadfastly avoided her eyes. "Even after…everything?" she had asked, her breath caught in her throat.

He shrugged helplessly.

Robin took a deep breath: "Even…even if I were tell you that I could never have children – and that I don't want them?"

She almost had to close her eyes, so afraid she was of how he would respond.

Barney lifted his head and turned to her. "Robin…"

"You want kids. I know you do." She felt a tear roll down her cheek. She reached up quickly to wipe it away, hoping he hadn't noticed.

"Being with you, loving you – that made me realize I wanted a family. But the family I wanted was you, Robin."

There was no hiding the tears now. She sniffled. "The whole kids thing - it was the reason Kevin and I broke up. Well, part of the reason. The excuse, I suppose. And since then I've felt like-like there was something wrong with me. Like something was wrong."

Barney put his arms around her. "No. Not even close," he whispered comfortingly. "Everything is right. When I was looking at Lily holding her baby, I realized that I loved that little boy. And I've got my nephew. And some day, maybe, Ted will have kids. Probably not at this rate, but maybe."

Robin laughed.

"And I'm going to love those kids too," Barney continued. "And I realized that maybe it was all meant to be just like this. Because, let's face it, I would overwhelm a baby with my awesomeness. I'm just a little_ too_ awesome. Much better in small doses for the little ones."

She laughed again. He pulled away and used his sleeve to dab her tears. "The only thing wrong here is you and me: we're supposed to be together." He nodded at her confidently.

She stared at him, dazed.

Barney gripped her arms firmly. "For a long time now you're the only thing I've wanted. Even when we broke up, I don't know, didn't it feel, deep down somewhere, like it was only a pause? If we weren't best friends, and knew we would still be seeing each other almost everyday, do you really think we would have let each other go? We were miserable, but we still got engaged rather than break up because we knew we loved each other even if we didn't know how to be together." He inhaled deeply. "We haven't made this work yet, but have we ever wanted anyone else as much as we wanted each other? I love you, Robin. Still. In spite of everything. _Because_ of everything. And because of nothing – because I just love you and that's that."

Robin had been ready to jump into his arms and kiss him ten sentences ago, but she needed to hear what he was going to say. She wondered if they might have gotten things right ages ago if they had only forced each other to speak their heart.

He bit his lip, waiting for her to react.

"I should be saying this to you," Robin cried. "After what I did to you, I should be the one saying this and not you. I was afraid. I was afraid you didn't want me anymore."

"Never." He had kissed her forehead.

And that was how they wound up huddled on the bench, dreamily gazing out at the skyline and enjoying the intimacy of each other's arms.

"You didn't yell at me," she remarked softly.

"What?"

"I really screwed you over, Barney. You haven't let it out yet. We're back together now but it was so…amicable. Don't you want something from me, for what I've put you through? You suffered."

"It was nothing. You only broke my heart," he joked.

She lifted her head and wrapped her arms around his neck. "I mean it."

"Maybe I should save this. For a fight or something. Like a coupon."

Robin rolled her eyes. "It doesn't work like that. We've got so much baggage. I think we should try and make a fresh start of it, leaving all of that behind. So, here it is, one last chance to talk about our past. Go for it: vent. Rant."

He smiled at her knowingly. "You just don't want me holding 'that night' over you."

"No, I don't. I'm getting out from under that _right_ now."

"I don't care about any of that anymore. About how we slept together and you wanted to pretend like it never happened. And about how we both agreed to break-up and I'm the only one who did-"

"I know, I know," Robin winced.

"And how we agreed to meet at MacLaren's later that night and you showed up with your _boyfriend_, and about how I had to sneak up to your room and clean up the candles and the rose petals I had laid out before you went up there-"

"Wait, what?"

"And about how there was a shit ton of them and it took me forever."

Robin swallowed. "You're an idiot." She leaned in and kissed him urgently.

Barney sighed after she pulled away. "I just want to know you loved me all this time."

"I don't ever want you to doubt that. Because if I could somehow show you the inside of my head and the inside of my heart, you would know that 'that night' and what I did, and what I've done since then, had absolutely nothing to do with not loving you. I told you I was messed up. I suffered too, Barney. And, even when I was with Kevin, even when I had accepted his _proposal_, inside me somewhere was this part of me that never truly believed you and I would never get back together." She tilted her head thoughtfully: "But…what if instead of talking about how absolutely wretched I've been, I told you something nice?"

Barney furrowed his eyebrows. "Something nice?"

"I want to tell you something that's going to make you smile."

He shrugged. "OK. I'm game. Make me smile."

"You have to promise that you will never tell Ted. Ted is never to know this. In a sort of irrational way I think it would really hurt him."

"I'm smiling already," Barney joked. "This is going to be good."

"No, Barney. This is going to be legen…wait for it…dary."

"Aww, honey. You used my catchphrase."

She slugged him for the term of endearment. "Are you ready for this?"

He gestured for her to start.

"Well…" she began. "I might have…It just might be the case that…Which is to say, it's very highly possible that…"

"Robin!"

She breathed in deeply. "OK. Well, do you remember that night when I first met Ted? When he saw me at MacLaren's? And then you played Have-You-Met-Ted and he and I started talking?"

Barney stared at her blankly. "The night Ted met you. No, not ringing a bell."

She rolled her eyes.

"Ah yes, night of the Lebanese," he corrected. "When Ted saw you across a crowded room and knew you were the girl of his dreams? I might have forgotten, if Ted hadn't told the story 100 times since then. The rest of the night was pretty memorable as well." Barney had to stop and laugh a minute at Ted. Just Ted being Ted. "I'm so glad we're talking about this," he added sarcastically.

"Just wait," she encouraged. Then Robin shrugged in embarrassment. "Well, I might have…_noticed_ you."

Barney lifted his eyebrows. "What?"

"Earlier, when I first arrived at the bar. I saw you."

"Yeah you did. You _liked_ what you saw. Tell me more," Barney demanded.

Robin laughed. "Fine. Yes. I might have liked what I saw. There might have been a double take."

"You wanted to slice off a piece of the Barnacle for yourself."

She was beginning to regret deciding to tell him this.

"Say it!" Barney commanded.

Robin pursed her lips.

"Say it!"

Robin sighed. "Fine. I wanted to slice off a piece of the Barnacle for myself," she recited.

"_Yeah_…" Barney nodded, smiling smugly.

"I'm not saying I would have gone home with you or anything," Robin disclaimed, "Especially not if you had used one of your stupid tricks on me."

"What? 'Daddy's home' wouldn't have flown with you?"

"Uh, no," she laughed.

"What about now?" He leaned in. "Daddy's home."

"No," she giggled, but she was staring at his lips.

"Daddy's home," he repeated.

She shook her head, though still mesmerized by his mouth.

He leaned in a little more. "Daddy's home."

She threw herself at him.

"So, I saw a janitor's closet," Barney informed her, panting as he pulled away. He stood and took her hand.

"Uh-huh." Robin nodded and allowed him to pull her inside.


End file.
